Monday, July 28, 2008

Smells Like Teen Spirit

Once Naked For Nirvana, Now A Teen Spirit
By Chana Joffe-Walt

All Things Considered, July 23, 2008 - Imagine if millions of people had seen you naked before you were old enough to say "embarrassing." That's the story of Spencer Elden, whom you may know as the little baby floating toward a dollar bill on the cover of Nirvana's 1991 album, Nevermind.





Nearly 17 years later, amid hating school and playing water polo, Elden is still struggling to make sense of his (very) public image.

"Quite a few people in the world have seen my penis," he says from his home in Los Angeles. "So that's kinda cool. I'm just a normal kid living it up and doing the best I can while I'm here."

Nevermind is often credited with changing the face of rock. Elden's naked participation in this important moment in music history was rather accidental; Kirk Weddle, the photographer working on the cover, was simply a friend of Spencer's dad, Rick.

"[He] calls us up and was like, 'Hey Rick, wanna make 200 bucks and throw your kid in the drink?,'" Rick recounts. "I was like, 'What's up?' And he's like, 'Well, I'm shooting kids all this week, why don't you meet me at the Rose Bowl, throw your kid in the drink?' And we just had a big party at the pool, and no one had any idea what was going on!"

Three months later, while driving down Sunset Blvd., the Elden family spotted a 9-foot-by-9-foot Spencer floating across Tower Records' wall. Two months later, Geffen Records sent 1-year-old Spencer Elden a platinum album and a teddy bear.

Over the coming years, 26 million albums were sold. As Elden learned to walk, talk and sing — his pale baby arms stretched across millions of grungy fans' walls; his private parts stood magnified across billboards and floors.

In some places, his image stuck. The other day, his friends spotted a giant Nevermind photo on the floor of a record store in Hollywood.

"My friend is all like, 'Hey I saw you today.' And I'm like, 'Dude, I was working all day.' And he's like, 'No, I went to Geffen Records, and you're on the floor and you're floating and I stepped on your face. 'Cause I guess they have like a floating thing where people can like walk on me and stuff ... so it's kinda cool," he says.

Life in general isn't quite as "cool" as it was when he jumped naked in the pool in the early '90s, though, he says. These days, his peers are too stuck on the Internet and video games. Ironically, he yearns for the era that gave Kurt Cobain, the lead singer for Nirvana, so much angst.

These days, Elden says, his peers concentrate on "playing Rock Band on Xbox, like, that's not a real band! That's the difference between the '90s and kids nowadays; kids in the '90s would actually go out and make a [real] band!"

But overall, life is good, he says. When he's not being repressed by video games and computers, Elden blasts music — mostly techno — and carries around a big bag of angst, mostly around the fact that he is "so over" high school.

"Same people, same teachers ... going to your locker, worrying about stupid girls ... I wanna get something going, I wanna travel," he says. Last fall, travel he did — all the way to military boarding school for six months. All his parents will say is that he's done his fair share of "testing authority."

Now he's trying to graduate from high school a year early. And he's talking about applying to West Point or becoming an artist ... or something.

As Spencer is wont to say, "I just take it as it comes. If I like it, I like it; if I don't like it, I don't like it."

Source: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=92833535&ft=1&f=1021

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

ZAPPA PLAYS ZAPPA

Zappa Plays Zappa is the name of a concert tour and band led by Dweezil Zappa, the oldest son of the late American composer and musician Frank Zappa, devoted to performing the music of Frank Zappa.






















The band debuted in 2006 with shows in Europe, Canada and the United States during May and June (the tour was also known as Zappa Plays Zappa - Tour de Frank'). The shows presented a collection of Frank Zappa's rock-oriented compositions from 1960s to 1980s. Apart from Dweezil Zappa on lead guitar, the band consisted of a mix of relatively unknown young musicians and older musicians who previously played with Frank Zappa. Among those, Napoleon Murphy Brock (sax, flute and vocals) was an integral part of the band, while drummer (and singer) Terry Bozzio and electric guitarist Steve Vai performed as guests in parts of the shows. At several shows Frank Zappa himself performed songs posthumously via synchronized audio/video technology, notedly portions of Chunga's Revenge, Dumb All Over, and Cosmik Debris.

After a break, the band played again in the US during the Fall of 2006, including a show in New York on October 31. This revived Frank Zappa's tradition of playing Halloween shows in New York. A DVD documenting the 2006 tour was released in early 2008.

In July and August 2007, the band played a North American tour, with a core line up similar to that of the 2006 band. The band then played in Europe during September and October, before returning to the US, starting with another Halloween show in New York. Special guest on the tour is vocalist and guitarist Ray White. They ended the 2007 tour in Australia in early December before doing a handful of shows in Japan in January 2008. Steve Vai returned as a guest on those shows. A brief tour of U.S. and Canadian dates is currently scheduled for the Summer of 2008 with the same line-up as the 2007 tour.

Zappa Plays Zappa hits South Florida on July 22nd at Club Cinema in Pompano Beach.
Click here for tickets: http://www.ticketmaster.com/artist/1017931/

Sunday, July 13, 2008

This Needs to Be Reposted Every So Often

MUSIC BINDS US ALL

This first post is a dedication to music's sweaty past and a tribute to its bold future. Music... The holy grail, the last leap from the ledge, the beating heart of the collective consciousness, a call to arms-a call to ears-music lovers of the world unite. Break the chains of wax in your blocked canals and let your heart rediscover the tribal bliss that is part of your human heritage - the kind of bliss achieved by rhythm, vibrations and beats.

Nothing can touch us like music. Nothing can conjure up an old memory like a song. Songs dig themselves in our sub-conscious like moles. They have the power to make us cry in a minute or feel emotional for no reason. Music is unreasonable in its math like precision. Even the most casual observer has a favorite song or musical moment that they cherish..... Then there are those of us who take it further...

There are those of us who have gone through myriad hardships and endured many sketchy situations to have music shine its love on our skin - follicles dancing in the moonlight. There are those of us who have toured with this band or that and have road stories that would make the lice in your locks look for the lifeboat! Some of us still live there at festivals forever in the gratitude of musics hazy enlightenment. Some of us have whirled and twirled and suffered ego death in the prairie of musical frontiers. Some of us have prayed with hands clasped for one more from our favorites or just for a great show. Some have smiled or made smile a dancing partner and many a dancing partner has become a night adventure. Many a night adventure has become a life endeavor and music is the chain that holds the swing to the structure!

People that are passionate about music are evenly split into two groups - Half are musicians and half are fans. Between the two this portion of the population keeps the magic and ritual of music alive; which in turn creates the myth. Maybe that is what this first post is about - the myth of music. Maybe this is just a dedication to everyone who has a favorite record album they cant get rid of even though they don't own a record player. Or maybe I should dedicate this to all of you who still sing LOUD in the shower!

Music affects everyone whether they know it or not and I'm not even talking about all the subtle or subconscious levels, I'm not talking about all the songs swimming around in your cluttered head, I'm saying if Led Zeppelin came to your small town, it doesn't matter if you've never heard of them; between the traffic and the grocery store situation, it would affect you for days - and If you weren't there you just weren't where the history was being made.

In the end, songs bind our DNA and melodies give us wings, rhythm lets us breathe better and to keep a beat is the heart of the matter - like the salt of the earth, music is ancient and eternal and will always be one of the things that define man and his culture.

Saturday, July 12, 2008

The Dropa Stone Vanity CD Review

Connections Magazine (July issue)
THE DROPA STONE
The Dropa Stone CD Release: June: June 14th, 2008
Availability: www.myspace.com/thedropastone
Rating: 4 Stars
By: Jaime Eschelman













With echo-ey riffs and an eclectic feel, The Dropa Stone's self titled six song E.P. distances itself from the cookie cutter clones of modern rock. Maintaing just enough of a hard edge, they fuse a variety of musical styles, avoiding a specific genre. In fact, this is one of those bands that is difficult to place in one particular category. This isn't to say that fans of Alternative/Indie/Emo wouldn't like this record, they would. But The Dropa Stone writes and performs in such a way that damns the cliches. The songs here are instrumentally and vocally first rate, bringing a fresh new sound to a stale rock environment. The production, mix and mastering, done by Justin Thomas of Gridlock Studios, is ahead of the class.

Definitely deserving of your ears!

Last call to help out this Saturday for Free Dave Mathews Tickets

This Saturday the Dave Matthews band is playing in West Palm Beach at the Cruzan Amphitheater. If you can be there by 3:30 to help us register voters please let me know. Headcount.org will give you a ticket in exchange for your time volunteering to register voters. f you want to help out and see a kick ass show, please send an email to Acacia Rettich at: arettich@gmail.com or reply to me ASAP .

We still need 5 folks for the Saturday show.
Come out, register voters, and catch some great music.





What is HeadCount?


We are a non-partisan, not-for-profit organization devoted to voter registration and participation in democracy. We were created in 2004 by a group of artists, music industry professionals and fans, all determined to make sure the live music community is well-represented at the polls.




MUSIC BINDS US ALL

Feelin ill? Call on the Good Doctor.

The legendary Dr John, his unmistakable voice and unique, killer
brand of New Orleans Voodoo Blues.

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

PAUL T FRIDAY 07/11/08 @ 8PM LUNA STAR CAFE

Named “Arizona’s #1 Songwriter,” Paul T.'s work has been recorded by Tommy Cash, Johnny Paycheck, and Chris Noel. He has shared the stage with performers such as Willie Nelson, Alabama and Gregg Allman, and he is a top-ranked soloist on Carnival Cruises worldwide.



Righteous, self-righteous, exhilarating and aggravating, hilarious and profane, Paul T. plays music with the ghosts of Hunter S. Thompson, Will Rogers and Frank Zappa kibitzing over his shoulder. The songs are gritty, the singing is wisened, and his playing is the kind that comes from a virtuoso who isn't all that impressed with his own virtuosity. Paul T. is at his best with his personal story songs, full of humor, tragedy and commentary on everyday life in all its fragile and absurd reality, and imbued with a natural empathy for the roots of country music. This much about his story is clear: Paul T. has been tried, and his music remains true.

Friday, July 4, 2008

HAPPY 4th of JULY FROM MUSIC BINDS US ALL

JIMI HENDRIX - MACHINE GUN 1970




Machine gun
Tearing my body all apart

Machine gun, yeah
Tearing my body all apart

Evil man make me kill ya
Evil man make you kill me
Evil man make me kill you
Even though were only families apart

Well I pick up my axe and fight like a bomber
(you know what I mean)
Hey! and your bullets keep knocking me down

Hey, I pick up my axe and fight like a bomber now
Yeah, but you still blast me down to the ground

The same way you shoot me down, baby
Youll be going just the same
Three times the pain,
And your own self to blame
Hey, machine gun

I aint afraid of your mess no more, babe
I aint afraid no more
After a while, your, your cheap talk dont even cause me pain,
So let your bullets fly like rain

cause I know all the time youre wrong baby
And youll be going just the same
Yeah, machine gun
Tearing my family apart
Yeah, yeah, alright
Tearing my family apart

(dont you shoot him down)
(hes bout to leave here)
(dont you shoot him down)
(hes got to stay here)
(he aint going nowhere)
(hes been shot down to the ground)
(oh where he cant survive, no, no)

Yeah, thats what we dont wanna hear anymore, alright?
(no bullets)
At least here, huh huh
(no guns, no bombs)
Huh huh
(no nothin, just lets all live and live)
(you know, instead of killin)

May this be
Love or just
Confusion born out of
Frustration wracked
Feelings - of not
Being able to
Make true physical
Love to the
Universal gypsy queen
True, free expressed music
Darling guitar please
Rest. amen





' MUSIC BINDS US ALL '